Hi,
I am starting to make cheap photo books like at cvs and I was wondering if anyone can suggest a good printer. I am leaning towards laser due to the cheaper costs associated with it. I will need to print 12x12 occasionally also.
I know inkjet would print better photos but it is to pricey per book in terms of ink and paper.

How many prints per month do you anticipate running?

to start I'd say around 1000

So on an inkjet like an IPF5100 you'd be looking at around $3/page = $3000 a month.

You could get something like an IRC5180 with Fiery colorPASS rip for around $500/month on lease with service contract, and with clicks your cost would likely be around $650/month.

The finish quality is matte-only however.

An imagePRESS C1 would fit the bill and give you a better glossy option, but then your lease will likely be more than twice as much per month.

1,000 a month and you want him to get a new imagePRESS? First don't get a Ricoh or Canon (I have personal experiences with both, and the IKON techs agree- they both suck.)


How much do you want to pay?

This thread is posted in the canon forum... I don't think another canon will produce photo book output (unless the emphasis is on cheap vs. photo) The others are great for graphic output, but I don't see "photo book"

I don't know that short-run low-volume photo books are possible. Proof books would be easy.